Waxing Roth

Today is the century celebration of Lillian Roth!  She was a Broadway star as a teen and in the early days of sound movies looked like she might become big.  Alas, she was an alcoholic, and it took over her life.  She wrote an autobiography describing her travails in 1954, I'll Cry Tomorrow, which became a bestseller and revived her career. (In 1955 the book was turned into a popular film starring Susan Hayward, though she makes little attempt to impersonate Roth.)

Roth returned to the Great White Way in the 1962 musical I Can Get It For You Wholesale, which starred Elliott Gould and, in a small role that stole the show, Gould's future wife (and ex) Barbra Streisand.  I wonder if Roth gave Babs any advice on being an up-and-comer?

I love Roth in films like The Love Parade (1929), Madam Satan (1930), Ladies They Talk About (1933) and, above all, Animal Crackers (1930).  Being sent to work with the Marx Brothers was considered a punishment, but Roth is game and is even given some funny lines.  Usually, when there's a musical number that doesn't feature the Brothers, it's a good time to go out into the lobby and wait until the thing blows over.  But the big exception is Lillian Roth singing Kalmar and Ruby's "Why Am I So Romantic?" (written two years before Rodgers and Hart's "Isn't It Romantic?").  Still don't know why the song didn't become a hit.





PS  For a fine appreciation of Roth, with some great photos, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than this post at The Marx Brothers Council Of Britain.